


When We First Met (And All the Times Since)

by raidelle



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Episode Ignis Verse 2, Fleurentia, Fleurentia Zine, Hopeful Ending, M/M, Sexual Content, Vignettes, World of Ruin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:01:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21641866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raidelle/pseuds/raidelle
Summary: A glimpse of the first time Ravus and Ignis met, and all the times since.
Relationships: Ravus Nox Fleuret/Ignis Scientia
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32





	When We First Met (And All the Times Since)

**Author's Note:**

> My work for [Sass and Class: Fleurentia Zine](https://twitter.com/FleurentiaZine)

ACT I. PETIT FOURS

Ravus didn’t want to go all the way to Insomnia just to send his regards to the Prince of Lucis on the occasion of his seventh birthday. But Mother had a pressing matter to attend to as Oracle and Lunafreya had wanted to go, and he didn't want to leave his little sister all alone in foreign soil. So he went.

He sorely regretted his decision just ten minutes into the… party, he supposed it was to be called. Why did he even think there would be at least one good thing in this… this… farce? It was a party for a child! He was too old for this!

"Here," said a voice from his right. The speaker was a boy who looked to be nine or ten. He was carrying a plate of dainty pastries.

"And you are?” Ravus asked in a way that would’ve caused Mother to frown.

"Ignis Scientia." The introduction was made with a perfect bow. "I'm to be Prince Noctis's advisor."

“And what are those supposed to be?” Ravus gestured at the plate.

Ignis smiled at him. “Do they not serve iced petit fours in Tenebrae?” His tone was teasing and Ravus felt both chagrined and mollified. “I made these myself. Please have some. I’ve not seen you eat anything the whole afternoon.”

Ravus’s stomach grumbled at the same time Ignis held up the plate closer, and Ravus grudgingly took one pastry. He took a careful bite and…

Hmm. At least there was one good thing about this blasted event. Or two, if you count Ignis who turned out to be quite the conversationalist.  


* * *

  


ACT II. A LETTER FROM A FRIEND

Ignis couldn’t believe it. Only a week ago, he was trying to bully Noct into doing his homework. And now he was…

“Is there anything I can do, Your Majesty?” he fretted. He disliked how pale Noct looked against the sheets.

“Not at this time, Ignis. The Oracle has done everything she could. All we can do now is wait. Now go to your room and rest,” the king admonished, though not unkindly. “You’ve hardly slept and you’ll do Noct no good if you’re weak with exhaustion.”

Ignis wrung his hands, unwilling to leave his friend. “But…”

“I’ll have someone call you immediately when he wakes up.”

"Okay," Ignis said but didn't budge from his seat beside the bed.  


⁂

  
Ignis stayed with Noct in Tenebrae for three days. He wanted to stay longer, at least until Noct woke up for longer than five minutes, but his conscience wouldn't let him. He had school to worry about, not to mention the start of his formal training as advisor. He couldn't fail both the king and the future king by neglecting his duties.

"Your car will be leaving for the airship port in fifteen minutes."

It was Ravus.

Ignis smiled sadly at the still-sleeping prince. "Bye, Noct." He patted the prince’s hand in farewell, resigned to the fact that he had to make do with the regular correspondence promised by the King. 

He turned to Ravus. "Thank you for coming to get me. I think I would've gotten lost in this place."

Ravus shrugged. "I've been told you haven't left Prince Noctis's room since your arrival. I thought you'd need some help navigating Fenestala," he said in a non-response.

Ignis smiled, an echo of one he'd given not a year past. With a last lingering look back at Noct’s door, he fell into step behind Ravus.

They didn’t speak again until they reached the front gates of the manor, where Ignis bowed and said, “Farewell, Prince Ravus. Thank you again for your um… kindness. Please send my regards to the Oracle and to Princess Lunafreya.”

Ravus only nodded, cool and expressionless.  


⁂

  
Two days after his return to Insomnia, Ignis received a note, carried by a black dog that came from Astrals knew where. The spiky handwriting on the paper told him it was from Noct.

Dear Specs,  
I’m awake now. Ravus told me to tell you. I dunno why he had to make me tell you ‘cause Dad’s probably gonna tell you anyway. But Ravus kinda threatened me, so I borrowed Umbra from Luna so I can tell you. Please tell Ravus that already told you I'm awake so he can get off my case.

See ya soon.  
Noct  


* * *

  


ACT III. DISTRACTION

Seeing Ignis again after more than a decade was jarring. Ravus couldn't quite pinpoint what made such an impression on him. His physical stature, perhaps? The Ignis he remembered was gangly, at best. Like a boy who looked like he was going to grow tall, but whose body hasn't yet decided on how to achieve that height.

Or maybe it was that he appeared to be a competent fighter? Ravus had, for a split second, actually wished Ignis had attacked him so he could have had his measure of the younger man's prowess in combat.

Or perhaps it was the way the little blonde slid back as Ignis stepped forward. Like a mother coeurl protecting its cub, and the cub, with complete trust, knew that his mother would defend him no matter what.

This Ignis looked so very different from the soft-spoken boy who'd baked pastries and stuck by his sleeping, injured friend's side all those years ago. That boy was intriguing. This man was… distracting.

Their confrontation was cut short by Chancellor Izunia. The man certainly knew how to make an entrance, Ravus scoffed internally, although he was also grateful for the interruption. His thoughts had been straying so closely to something unnameable and he didn't want it to linger.  


* * *

  


ACT IV. BURNING ON MY LIPS

"We need to rest," Ravus panted from behind him. He swung his sword in a wide arc then rushed forward with his Magitek arm held forward like a shield, sending two soldiers crashing into a pile of their broken companions. 

Ignis grunted with great effort as he drove his dagger deep into the neck of another MT soldier. "No," he hissed. "Noct needs me and I must --"

"Which is why we must rest!" Ravus insisted. "We've been charging through the city for Astrals know how long, and I know as well as you do that we can't keep this up for another damned minute! You'll do your prince no good if you're dead. Be it by the hands of an MT or by your own stubbornness."

"And every second we waste resting," Ignis said the word as if it were poison, "is a second longer of Noct's and your sister's peril! Or have you forgotten that she's up there too?”

"I have not!" Ravus snarled. "But I have faith in my sister. Can you say the same for your prince?”

Ignis nearly stumbled as he charged, dagger held point-forward toward Ravus's throat. "How dare you!” he growled back, eyes cold and piercing. "How dare you."

He was trembling with rage and terror. It wasn't a good combination, Ignis had to admit. It also wasn't helping his case that they needed to press on, when his hand was shaking so badly that he'd already nicked the pale skin of Ravus's neck.

The other man held the stare for a long moment longer then flicked the dagger down and away. "You're exhausted. So am I. We need to rest," Ravus said in clipped tones. Then he turned around and stomped away, perhaps to scout for a suitable place to take an Astrals damned break.

Ignis growled his annoyance. "Fine," he said as he marched past. "Rest if you want. You’ve done nothing but slow me down and perhaps I’ll --”

“Slow you down?” Ravus, with another swift turn, faced him again and pulled him back. “Slow you down?” he repeated with a vicious edge, the Magitek hand curling painfully around Ignis’s upper arm. “You’d have been long dead if it weren’t for my help.”

“Get you hand off me,” Ignis hissed. He didn’t move, though, choosing out of pride to stay rooted where he stood and by sheer force of will make the other man let him go. He stared up at the High Commander, defiance burning green and bright in his eyes.

Ravus met that gaze with his own brand of resistance, his blue-and-purple eyes unrelenting. It was discomfiting. Second by second, Ignis was getting closer to fidgeting and averting his eyes.

“They need our help, Ravus. We have to get to them and I --”

Ignis’s breath left him in a rush as Ravus pulled him closer. One unyielding arm snaked around his waist. The other arm rose, the hand cupping against his jaw to pull closer. The cool touch of the metal against his cheek made Ignis gasp. And then warm, wet lips were moving over his, conquering his mouth and extinguishing any spark of defiance in his system.

It took a moment for Ignis to realize he was being kissed. No, consumed. He was burning, burning, burning, and it was all he could do to not just waste away into embers. A skillful tongue dueled with his own, plundering as it pleased, eliciting moans, and derailing his thoughts.

Noctis… Noctis had to… The Oracle was…

He had to breathe to think.

Ignis reluctantly pulled away and even then he had to take a long moment to compose himself. He tried to look for his dagger and belatedly realized it was back in the Armiger. A small comfort, knowing that the magic -- and Noctis -- is still there.

“Ravus, what are… We have to get to the Altar and --” It was a mistake to look back up at Ravus. There was something there, in those strikingly hued eyes, that threatened to pull him in forever. “We have to… We have to…”

Ravus surged forward, claiming his lips again and Ignis surrendered. He allowed himself to be pushed back against a crumbling stone pillar, to indulge in whatever it was they were sharing now, in the middle of a rain of fire and water and ash. He clutched at Ravus’s coat and pulled down, and to his immense satisfaction, Ravus gave in.

It felt so wrong to do this, right here, right now, when Noctis and Lady Lunafreya were fighting for their lives to save them all and yet… and yet…

“Do you want to stop?” Ravus panted against his neck.

Let Ifrit burn him where he stood, Ignis thought. His head spun as Ravus pinned him against the pillar using the length of his body, while his hands travelled south. A thrill shivered through Ignis when metal scraped across the material of his trousers. It nearly made his knees collapse under him, but the firm warmth of Ravus held him up. His belt, button, and zipper were made quick work of, and it was sweet, painful relief as one cool metal finger then two brushed the length of his hot flesh.

“Gods,” he gasped. He couldn’t do anything more than grab onto fistfuls of white-blonde strands to ground himself as his soul threatened to float away. He kissed Ravus breathless, swallowing the other’s moans while drowning his own.

Ravus had him in his human hand now, stroking him with long, artful caresses. At the same time, the Magitek hand was drawing patterns on his lower belly. He was dizzy with desire, trembling terribly, afraid to let go but desperately wanting to.

“Ravus, please,” he pleaded. He bucked against Ravus and licked a long stripe against the pale column of his neck. He tasted of sweat and seawater, a potent flavor he wanted to bottle up.

With one almost-harsh tug and a swipe of a thumb, Ignis came with a choked cry. It lasted seconds, minutes, eons, and when he came down from the high, he almost orgasmed again as Ravus licked his fingers clean of his release.

When they’ve both finally caught their breaths again, it was Ravus who spoke first.

“We need to rest.”

Ignis agreed with a faint nod.  


* * *

  


ACT V. THE BEGINNING

Over the years of darkness, he’d seen Ignis only once, in a derelict farm house at the Fallgrove. It had been four years after he’d brought Ignis to the Keep to be revived by the Crystal’s magic by then.

Ignis had just come back from an expedition of Costlemark. It had been a harrowing trip, if his state was anything to go by. Ravus, on the other hand, had just finished a patrol that ended in an ambush he’d barely managed to get out of alive. They ended up separated from their own groups, and taken refuge at the small but serviceable house.

They hardly spoke a word between them, just each others’ names in polite greeting. Ravus couldn’t remember falling asleep, but when he woke after what he felt like only five minutes, Ignis had already gone. The only trace he’d left was a single vial of potion. With a rush of sentimentality that he hadn’t known he still possessed, he’d chosen to keep the potion. Through the years since, he hadn’t deemed to use it, not even when he suffered broken bones only months later.

And now they’re here. At the steps of the Citadel, ready to face their fates. Ravus had bequeathed the Sword of the Father to the rightful King of Lucis, a purpose he’d fulfilled at last.

The daemons just below the stairs were howling, in fear or in rage or in both. Ignis looked ready as ever to do his duty, to support Noctis in whatever way he can. To die, if need be. Ravus couldn’t hate Ignis for it, not when he would’ve offered his own insignificant life in exchange for his sister’s. But he had one last thing to do before they all plunged back into the fray.

Ravus called up every last bit of his courage. “Ignis,” he said. Then he reached into his pocket, withdrawing the potion he’d kept in his person for years almost like a talisman for safety and comfort.

Something playful sparked in Ignis’s eyes for an infinitesimal second. “And what’s that supposed to be?”

For a moment, Ravus felt fifteen again and, despite his terror, a little bloom of hope sprouted in his chest.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on
> 
> Tumblr: @raidelle  
> Discord: raidelle#3573  
> Twitter: @raidelle3573


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